Sir Timothy Raison obituary letter

Timothy Raison created around him an air of calm reasonableness Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

Paul Barker writes: Your obituary of Sir Timothy Raison (11 November) made passing reference to one of his major achievements – the launching of New Society, in 1962, as a pioneering weekly magazine of social inquiry. In deliberate opposition to, say, the New Statesman and the Spectator, it was non-party-political; judged policies on their outcome, not on whose idea they were; drew strongly on the then-novel insights of the social sciences; and journalistically tried constantly to look at "the other Britain," miles away from Westminster and Whitehall.

Tim was an excellent editor. Contributors met with no party line, but they did have to argue their case. The fact that the publisher was Tim's father, Maxwell Raison, was crucial. New Society did not make a penny for three years. Without the filial link, it could well have been shut down.

His staff were very fond of him. He created around him an air of calm reasonableness. Many young writers got their first chance here. As his editorial successor, I was once asked to go on Radio 4 to discuss the proposition that "the 60s really began on 4 October 1962, when the Beatles' first single was released, the first Bond movie opened, and the first issue of New Society appeared." That was the magazine Tim created.